A stroll down memory lane...

This is the first of probably many very random blog posts, but seeing as how I am pretty much confined to my bed today (and what it seems may be a million more days for the rest of forever...) I thought I would link up to Baby Berry's 'the proposal' link party. Now I get to spend my long afternoon reading sweet love stories and thinking about the past, ahh....

 

Anyway, what makes our story special is that it is, well, ours! Matt and I have been together for 9 years now. Yes, we are high school sweethearts. I met him in 8th grade and we instantly became great friends. It's like something out of a movie when I think about it really. I remember at one point in our sophomore year of high school when I was 'playing hard to get' Matt told me he was going to marry me someday. I like to think about that when I know I am being particularly obnoxious. I mean, I can't be more obnoxious now even on my worst days than I was when I was in high school, and if he knew he wanted to marry me then...? :)

So, onto the story. It was December 4th, 2005 and I was a junior in college. (I know, a baby, right?) I remember having the distinct feeling that something was different about that night when I was getting ready even though I wasn't expecting a proposal quite so soon. I took a little extra time selecting my outfit and fixing my hair. I was nervous when he came to pick me up. We went to dinner at a 'new-to-the-area' restaurant. Somewhere between courses I remember knowing it was all about to go down. Matt started getting all sentimental (that is so my department usually) and talking about the years we had spent together and the future he wanted for us. It all happened very quickly. He gave me the most gorgeous ring he had designed himself with a jeweler in our hometown. It was all so perfect.

 

And it only got better from there. After dinner we went up to a place in Cincinnati called Mt. Adams and got ice-cream and walked around looking at the Christmas trees that had just been put out. One of the best things about our small college experience was that we had the most incredible group of friends there. Little did I know Matt had spent a good amount of time with one of his very best friends planning a surprise get together. He made a DVD of our years together to the tune of a great little song called "Marry Me" and all of our best friends were there to watch it and celebrate our engagement together. It was exactly what every girl wants, all of her best friends around to gush over the engagement and ring and details. We got to relive the story immediately and it was great! 

 

It was all so perfect. Like I said, the best part is that it's our story. Here we are 4+ years into marriage and we have already lived in another country, had a beautiful daughter and are about to bring another little baby into the world. It'd crazy to think that this same guy who pledged his love for me when he was 16, stood by me through so many ups and downs, held my hand in really crappy times, got caught by the police with me, married me, took me on the adventure of a lifetime to a foreign country, and made me a mother still loves me after all these years of knowing me.   I know I have said it before, but Matt really is just perfect in so many ways.